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I. PROCEDURES AND SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW PROCESS Seneca Coal Company applied for a Phase I bond release of 2,247.7 disturbed acres under the Colorado Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act following reclamation of the Seneca II Mine. The mine azea is located in Routt County, Colorado, in lands included within: TSN, R87W; All of Sections 1, 2 and 12; Portions of Sections 3, 11 and 13 T6N, R87W; Portions of Sections 27, 34, 35 and 36 TSN, R86W; Portions of Sections 6 and 7. The Seneca II Mine is located in northwest Colorado, approximately nine miles southeast of Hayden in Routt County. The Seneca II Mine lies 7 miles east of the Seneca II-W Mine, Permit No. C-82- 057, and 4 miles east of the Yoast Mine, Permit No. C-94-082. The mining azea can be found on the Milner Quadrangle 7.5 Minute Series Map. Elevations at the mine site range from 6,600 feet to 8,100 feet above mean sea level. Mining started in 1972 and coal removal continued through August, 1999. During active mining operations, the coal from the Seneca II Mine was hauled over county and private roadways by a private hauler to the Hayden Station Power Plant operated by Public Service of Colorado. The Seneca II Mine is a surface operation that used area strip techniques and auger mining. Area strip mining techniques used at the mine include vegetation removal, topsoil stripping, fragmentation and removal of overburden, fragmentation and removal of coal, spoils grading, topsoil replacement, and revegetation. Surface disturbance at the site included surface mining pits, reclaimed auger mining azeas, and mine- related structures and facilities. Mining occurred in two pits, the Wadge and Wolf Creek. The Wadge pit mined the Wadge coal seam to depths of 100 feet, The Wolf Creek pit recovered the Wolf Creek seam to depths of 140 feet. Three auger azeas were mined at the Seneca II Mine. These areas are designated as Area B, D, and E and aze shown on Exhibit 12-1A of the permit application package (PAP). The final azea to be mined was the Wadge East Area pit. Coal removal was completed at this location in August, 1999. The 650 dragline was moved from the Seneca II Mine to the Yoast Mine in the fall of 1996. Prior to the cessation of mining production rates were approximately 600,000 tons per year. Mining operations have been completed at the Seneca II Mine. The Wolf Creek and Wadge Area pits have all been entirely backfilled and graded, topsoil has been redistributed, and seeding and planting has been completed in all locations of the mine site. Only limited reclamation and maintenance related activities aze ongoing at the site. The permanent program mining permit was issued on September 23, 1981. Four successive permit renewals have since been approved. Permit Renewal No.S is pending with a current permit expiration date of February 17, 2007. Reclamation bonds held for the existing permit and previous permit numbers (designated as Pre-Law) are given in the following table. Exhibit D, Chronology of Bonding 3